We're Not Gonna Take It
by Once-Twice-Thrice
Summary: SYOC sub. The world has not reacted well to the introduction of mutants. As the X-men have disbanded to pursue their lives, few remain at the Institute and some have left to support mutants worldwide. New laws have been created to stifle the freedom of mutants and large numbers have begun to disappear. A mutant 'Underground' community has surfaced. T for swearing.
1. Swimming in the Sewer

Wolverine crinkled his nose, as willing as he was to help the Professor; he held no eagerness to go running around in a sewer in the hopes of stumbling upon some secret community that probably did not exist. Especially, when his suit would certainly never smell the same again. He would rather have sent just about anyone to get out of the rancid place, but he understood if any of them were to infiltrate the 'Underground', his rugged appearance was the best bet. Of course, that didn't stop him from imagining the newly recruited Swamp Rat running around in the sewers. A smirk graced his lips momentarily until his boot came into contact with an unknown substance that appeared to rather like his boot.

"Shouldn't have worn the new gear." Wolverine thought bitterly as he raised his leg out of the mysterious substance and lowered it into a puddle.

Growling to himself, Wolverine pressed on with his fists clenched against his sides, ignoring the sloshing noise of his feet.

Ever since Magneto had disappeared, Xavier had become tense, going so far as to search day and night for the magnetic mutant. It was Professor Xavier's fear that Magneto's disappearance was not by choice and when Mystique and Sabretooth disappeared, he felt that his fears had been confirmed. When word of the 'Underground' had surfaced, it had been Wolverine who suggested that Magneto was behind it and it was Wolverine who now searched for the missing mutant.

Now, Wolverine trudged through god knew what and reconsidering his earlier words. If he were having this much trouble with the stench, then he had no idea how Sabretooth would have been able to stay down here anywhere near the stretch of time that he had been missing.

"Ah, shit." Wolverine growled, pinching his nose in disgust.

"Well, he's not stupid. I'll give him that." Came a snide comment from the shadows.

Giggling followed the comment and Wolverine's eyes narrowed into a glare. Wolverine turned in one fluid motion, his claws out without hesitation as he held them level with the intruder's throat.

"You got a problem, bub?" Wolverine asked, his voice sounding more gravely.

"He's not very polite though." Came a second voice, which stood behind the first.

Wolverine glanced for a moment, between the two and closed his eyes for a moment.

"You have got to be kiddin' me." Wolverine grumbled under his breath as he lowered his arms to his sides and sheathed his claws.

* * *

Obviously this is an SYOC and the form is on my profile page. Most of the chapters will focus on a certain location, such as the 'Underground', etc. The canon characters involved will vary as I'm not sure who I want to use. If you have any ideas or want to see a certain character let me know. I am taking an unknown amount of OCs. There is no deadline as I need various numbers for each location. I will let you know if your character has been accepted and notify if any changes need to be made. I will not take OCs through review, only PM. Future chapters will be much longer and the focus will be primarily on your Ocs, my Ocs are fillers. Thank you for your interest.

Once~Twice~Thrice


	2. New Tides

Professor Xavier sat with his fingers steepled in his lap staring intently out the window. A deep sigh escaped his lips as he felt the remainder of a flickering mental link break with a sudden tug. His eyebrows arched in concern as he stared out into the night, eyes barely able to make out the outlines of the woods behind the institute.

"Professor, is everything alright?" Dimitri Volkov questioned from his position next to a bookcase, having spent a few minutes before glancing over the contents.

His green eyes watched the Professor carefully as he made his way closer, slowly receding into one of the leather chairs situated in front of the Professor's desk. He crossed his arms over a faded and grass stained shirt and crossed his legs, resting his left ankle over his right leg. He grimaced slightly noticing the thin layer of caked mud on his boots and tips of his jeans from having spent the afternoon playing a quick game of soccer. He slowly edged his left leg off of his right in an attempt to hide his minor indiscretion.

A momentary grin played on Professor Xavier's lips as he took notice of the gesture.

"Do not concern yourself with a bit of dirt at the moment, Dimitri, as we have more pressing matters to attend to." Professor Xavier explained his eyes glancing back into the darkness before turning back to meet those of the Russian.

Before Dimitri went on, he turned towards the door and released a low whistle. A smirk played on his lips as he moved swiftly and opened the door.

A mumbled "shit" escaped Nicholas Whyte's lips as he tumbled towards the ground before Dimitri wrapped his free arm around the teen's waist and helped him up. The eighteen-year-old stood up straight, wearing only his grey fleece jogging pants. He hid his embarrassment with a mischievous grin.

"So what's with all the tension? Does this have to do with Magneto's disappearance or Wolverine's mission?" Nick asked, brushing shaggy black hair out of his eyes with a tanned hand.

His bright green eyes turned calculative as he watched both the Professor and Dimitri. Dimitri looked to the Professor for a moment, as if to question Nick's presence over the mater, but Professor Xavier nodded his head and focused on the two.

"I'm afraid this matter would have to do with the latter," he paused a moment to allow them to register his words, "it seems that I have lost contact with Logan telepathically. For the last several hours I have felt a diminishing connection with the feral and now, it is as if he has seemingly disappeared."

The telepath paused again as Nick visibly tensed. Before he could speak, the Professor held up a hand to stop him.

"I do not feel it would be wise to send a recovery party after Logan. Instead, I would ask the two of you remain here as I fear that things will start to pick up and I will need all the help I can get as we begin recruiting more students again." Professor Xavier soothed, "I will, however, add Logan to my daily searches. I do not imagine anything has happened to him as he is well-equipped to handle his own problems."

Dimitri and Nick mechanically nodded in unison, both taking their time to absorb the information.

"Have you made any attempts to notify the others?"Dimitri finally asked, a few particular names coming to the blonde's mind.

A faint smile came over the Professor's lips as he locked eyes with Dimitri once again.

"I have made a few calls already, but I'm afraid I'm not having much luck. Hank had shown interest in returning to help; however, he has been making little progress in the Senate up against Senator Kelly and I would hate to impede on his progress. As for the others, many of them are just too busy. I have received word from Rogue and Gambit that they will be returning from their mission shortly. I was hoping that you could make a few calls, one in particular I'm sure you would be pleased to make." The Professor explained, laying his hands in his lap in a more relaxed gesture.

"Of course, Professor," Dimitri nodded as Nick glanced from one mutant to the other.

"I would imagine that my emotional output has decreased well enough that you may find yourself able to rest peacefully tonight." Professor Xavier smiled towards Nick.

Nick opened his mouth to protest his confusion, but closed his mouth and nodded.

"Better enjoy it while you can, Nick, before you know it, we'll be overflowing with emotionally confused teenagers." Dimitri grinned, placing his hand on the young empath's shoulder.

Nick visibly grimaced and ran his hands through his hair in frustration. He released a sigh from his lips, inclined his head to both occupants of the room and made his way rather quickly out of the room.

* * *

Sitting alone in a booth, Willa Butler flipped to the next page in her reading with a darkly tanned finger. Aggravated with her pace, she finally closed the book and just stared with angular murky brown eyes at the cover of her college textbook. She stretched her sweatpants clad legs under the booth and crossed her arms behind her head mindful of her black rooted maroon hair pulled into a bump that lead to a ponytail. She ran a lazy finger over the three inches of shaved lines of hair of hair by her temples and ears and closed her eyes to relax for a moment. Her track jacket kept her warm from the nightly chill of the restaurant, excluding that which her v-neck left bare from the breeze that emanated with each time that the door was opened across from her. She laid her hands back on the table and examined the faint burn marks that nearly disappeared due to the intensity of her skin tone.

"This would be a wonderful night for a jog." Willa muttered sarcastically to herself as she looked absently out the window and into the dimly lit streets.

Laughter filled her ears from nearby and she turned to see a group of guys sitting in a booth right next to hers.

"There a problem, boys?" Willa asked, staring rather impassively at the group.

"Chick, you'd be dead in a matter of seconds out there with all those mutants running amuck. Plus, those piercings," one of them laughed, pointing at the three ear piercings and single nose piercing, "you're begging for trouble."

Within the next second, the boys suddenly found that their drinks had tipped rather violently over and landed in each owner's respective lap. They all shot up in unison and tripped over one another as they made their way rather clumsily to the restroom.

Willa covered her mouth as she attempted to stifle her laughter and turned her head to find a slightly younger looking girl who was openly laughing. The girl held a notepad to her jean clad thigh and Willa was barely able to read the name tag 'El' pinned to a black colored polo. Willa looked carefully at the dark brown hair pinned up in a messy looking bun; a moment ago she would have called the hair black. It gave her skin a pale appearance and Willa's murky brown eyes met grey as the assumed 'El' managed to stop laughing.

"Sorry, I just really hate it when people have to be such jerks, Elsa Kent, but most call me El." Elsa greeted, biting her lip.

Willa blinked for a moment, processing for a moment before things seemed to click.

"Willa Butler," Willa responded, eyes glancing back over to the spilled cups only to notice that their shadows seemed to be nonexistent.

Willa looked back at El to find that something dark was concentrated by her feet.

"Shit, shit, crap!" El cursed as the dark form dispersed.

El seemed frantic for a moment before slipping into the seat opposite that of Willa.

"Look I didn't mean to…" El began.

Willa held up a hand to stop her before glancing around, taking notice that none of the other patrons had seemed to notice the two teens.

"I didn't see anything." Willa replied, a rather serious tone, looking at El as if waiting for the girl to rebuke such a claim.

Fishing in her back pocket, Willa pulled out a few bucks to pay for her bill and grabbed her textbook. She stood, giving a two-finger salute to El before turning and exiting the restaurant. Leaving El with a rather confused look on her face, which lasted until one of the chefs dinged a bell with his spatula. Without a second thought, El ran over to pick-up the order and deliver it to the patron sitting a number of booths from that which had been previously occupied by Willa.

* * *

I used only a few OCs so as not to overload the amount of information given so it might be a few chapters before certain characters appear, it also depends on the development of the story. Let me know how I did on character personalities. Things will start moving faster and I'm looking forward to the first fight scene soon. There is no set schedule for uploads; however, if I'm taking a long time to upload then feel free to shoot me a Pm, I'm sure someone will feel pleased to do so. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and leave a review to let me know what you think of the story and if you are pleased with the length.


	3. One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

Quick note: Be patient if you are waiting for your character to appear I have around thirty-five and I'm trying not to overload the information given. Also, I would like to thank those that reviewed; especially the constructive criticism and I hope to have made improvements for this chapter and from here on.

Disclaimer: Marvel owns the X-men, Ocs belong to their respective creators and I take ownership of the random filler characters as well as the general plot.

* * *

Wolverine opened his eyes for a moment and closed them again briefly. He really needed a cigar at this point.

The boy seemed fairly average, he was the typical dark-haired brunette with blue eyes, although his hair was a lot longer than most and thus was pulled back in a ponytail under what Wolverine considered was an Australian leather hat. The kid seemed pretty relaxed in a black tee and camouflage pants. The only peculiar characteristics as far as he could tell, were the slash marks across the boys face.

The girl was rather small and with the pale complexion and short blonde hair that almost looked as if it had a nibbled effect, Wolverine would have sworn she looked misplaced in the sewers under Bayville. She held herself pretty well, seeming self-assured as she tucked one end of her bangs behind an ear. She attempted to pull one of the sleeves of her white tank top back onto her shoulder, but it slid back down shortly after, leaving a bit more of the three quarter length black shirt to be revealed. Her hand fell to rest on the grey leathers and she stared back at Wolverine through a simple eye mask resting against a bright blue head band.

"Shouldn't you two be in school or something?" Wolverine asked a bit confused with the pair.

"Nah, mate, we're a couple of bushrangers!" Andrew Ashcroft laughed, looking at his partner, Alexandra Collins for agreement.

"That and its Saturday." Alex responded, not entirely sure what Andrew had just called them and hoped it wasn't demeaning.

Wolverine blinked a moment, just as confused as Alex, before registering the fact that she had been right. He had left the Institute in the middle of the night on Friday and had wandered around until presumably the morning of Saturday.

"Look, I'm not here for a fight. I'm just looking for the Underground." Wolverine tried to explain, holding his hands out in a manner to express his sincerity about not wanting to fight them.

Alex eyed Andrew a moment and the two almost seemed to have a silent conversation. Alex briefly glanced over Wolverine's shoulder, eyeing something a number of feet away from the feral. She nudged Andrew and he nodded to her.

Andrew took a number of measured steps back, his steel-toed boots creating a serious of thuds and squish noises as he backed into a number of puddles. Wolverine watched the boy carefully, tensing as he expected the boy to turn tail and run within the next moment.

Just as Andrew began to speed up, Wolverine moved towards the pair before a large mass of sewage flew into his face.

"Ah shit." Wolverine cursed, wiping the contents off his face and making faces as the sewage went up his nose.

He barely turned in time as a pale figure flew from behind. His adamantium claws made a loud clang noise as something metallic made contact. Wolverine stared, his eyesight slowly coming back to him, into the face of a third teen.

Argent Tulach stared with intense hazel eyes at Wolverine. Her face strained as she pushed against him with the three metal spikes that had emanated from her lower arm. She was barely able to keep the circular rivets on her upper arm and the other six on her opposite arm from growing out as well, but had no choice as Wolverine tried to sideswipe her with his free hand. She managed to catch them with her free hand after three more spikes grew from the rivets on her lower arm.

Argent clenched her glove-clad hands as she attempted to maintain constant pressure against Wolverine. She grimaced as she felt her metal spikes beginning to wane under the pressure exerted against her.

"Congratulations, you've found the fucking Underground." Argent seemed to growl between clenched fists, "Stinger!"

Wolverine hesitated for a moment and within the next, Andrew came running up behind the feral. His fists now sported a set of spines on each that had grown from his knuckles, much like the claws on Wolverine's. Without a second thought, Andrew punched Wolverine in the back with both hands.

Before Wolverine could retaliate, Alex used her telekinesis to pull Andrew back to her side. Argent followed suit and backed away from the feral before he managed to break her spikes with his adamantium claws.

Wolverine collapsed onto one of his knees and looked up at Argent. His expression was easily recognizable as that of a man whom was extremely pissed off. His breathing seemed labored as the neurotoxins worked themselves through his blood stream. While his healing factor managed to fight off the paralytic, it was taking a bit longer to take care of the deadlier venom delivered by the second punch.

"Bloody 'ell, that's one tough bloke! 'is claws almost broke right through your spikes, Machete." Andrew remarked, remembering to use Argent's codename.

Argent just nodded, taking her time to carefully move past Wolverine and towards her team. She staggered a moment, nearly slipping off the walkway until Alex telekinetically pulled her back. She nodded at the blonde before signally for them to follow her back, leaving Wolverine to himself as he began to heal.

"It won't take him too long before he heals himself. Best we're long gone by then, Ariel, cover our trail as we go." Argent commanded, giving Wolverine a cold stare before continuing on.

Alex nodded in understanding and moved a hand to move the air around them to cover their scent with that of the sewer. Without another word, the trio was gone and Wolverine found himself cursing repeatedly in his head.

As they moved, Argent removed the black body arm from her black tee and laid it over her shoulder. Her thoughts kept going back to Wolverine; she didn't want the X-men sniffing around. Just another thing she'd have to bring up to the others, as if things weren't crazy enough. Argent pinched the bridge of her nose; the Underground was having enough problems as it was.

"That bloke was so 'ariy, 'e looked like a bloody bunyip." Andrew laughed, earning a confused stare from both girls.

"Okay, Aussie, you're going to need to explain that one." Alex pointed out, her thoughts translating his slang to mean that Wolverine had looked like a bunny.

"Ay, I believe what we call a bunyip in the grand; ole Land of Oz would translate to that of a yeti or Bigfoot 'ere. Andrew attempted to explain earning a hesitant nod from Alex.

"I'm not even going to ask what a bushranger is." Argent commented, managing a smirk at Andrew.

Andrew just grinned back at her and swung himself onto a rusty looking ladder against the side of the sewer. Argent blinked, not having realized they were so close and internally grimaced at the thought of seeing the other members of the Underground, she at least trusted her team, but the others were up in the air.

"Let's just get this over with." Argent muttered dryly as she climbed up after the two.

"Well, we can tell 'em you almost used teamwork today, mate, if involuntary teamwork is a thing." Andrew called from above.

As soon as the trio broke to the surface, Argent walked with measured strides to the door of an old warehouse. The paint was chipped and covered in rust, the fact that it was still standing seemed like a miracle in its own right. Argent could practically feel the select number of mutants waiting inside. The door she stood by was probably the sturdiest portion of the entire warehouse or at least what could be viewed from the outside. The door was solid and had fresh bolts put in it, although the wall it was attached to seemed easier to just break through.

Argent rapped her fist against the door, barely feeling a vibration as a slit opened at the top portion of the door. Before eye contact could be made, the door flew open and Argent slipped inside, leaving Alex and Andrew to keep an eye on the outside.

After a couple of hours, Argent slipped out of the door, hearing the locks click into place she moved to find her teammates. When they saw her Argent stood with her freckled arms crossed and her hazel eyes pointedly narrowed at the pair. The wind blew back her pin-straight hair and Andrew swore she couldn't look any more dramatic or pissed off.

"What's going on, mate?" Andrew asked as he reached her.

"Tamwar came across another runaway and brought her back with him." Argent began glancing back at the warehouse.

"And being ever the skeptic, you wanted them checked out before placing?" Alex cut in, receiving a glare and then nod from Argent.

"Her name is Amelia Grace Pertole, assuming she wasn't lying. She seems rather sketchy and even Prudence agreed." Argent explained, the two nodding as the recalled the energy manipulator, "It has also come to my attention that Radar has yet to make an appearance in a number of weeks and even Lyle has yet to see her. There is a possibility that she was captured on one of her outings. Jesse and Lyle are currently without their leader and the job of screening mutants has been left to Jesse."

"What do the others think?" Alex asked, referring to the older Underground residence.

"They aren't concerned; they're more concerned about the new restraints on mutants. Just goes to show, they care more for the exterior rather than the interior of the Underground." Argent ground out, her fists tightly clenched together.

"What about the…" Andrew was cut off as Argent sent him an icy glare.

"They're not going to stop them. We've been left to our own devices. Honestly, I'm not so afraid; I've been waiting for a bit of action since the fight rings were closed." Argent smirked to herself, her metal spikes practically itching to come out again.

* * *

Sorry that took so long, been busy and having computer malfunctions, not to mention this is probably as pleased with chapter as I'm going to get. I haven't quite decided if I want to name the different factions and branches of the Underground, so we'll just see what happens.

Anyway, I hope y'all enjoyed it and let me know what you think with a review.


	4. Hit the 'Ground Running

Quick Note: I wanted to let people know that I am still accepting Ocs and would love to have some more Brotherhood characters. Regardless, this chapter is setting up a lot of stuff and even though I'm still introducing new characters, things will start to draw connections and involve some interactions between various groups and characters.

Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I probably don't own it.

* * *

Spade sat with his arms crossed behind his head, eyes closed and an arrogant smirk playing across his lips. His dark ruby hair fell well over his eyes and concealed the bronze colored irises beneath. The couch was slightly uncomfortable under him, but he concealed his discomfort as Tamwar Suresh made his way in, feet softly padding on the smooth concrete floor.

"'Bout time you got back." Spade remarked in a laid back tone.

Tamwar quirked a dark brown eyebrow at his leader, whom was barely the eldest of their little group. He stretched his arms into the air much like that of a cat and glanced briefly at his orange and black fur covered arms. He smirked down at Spade, revealing a set of sharp canines as he made his way slowly past the boy. His tail absently trailed under Spade's chin and in the next instant Spade was lying on the concrete ground sputtering and turning a bright red.

"Did you miss me?"Tamwar purred out mock suggestively.

"Shit, Stripes." Spade continued to sputter, wiping his mouth in an attempt to wipe away nonexistent fur, "I hate it when you do that!"

Spade used his hand to lift his bangs off his eyes as he peered at the humanoid tiger, taking note that he was still wearing his body armor a white t-shirt. The teen quickly slipped in the chair once again and gave a playful glare hidden well under his bangs.

"I told you to change out of that." Spade remarked, waving his hand at Tamwar dismissively.

With another playful smirk, Tamwar pulled off his white shirt and tossed the 'offending' article onto Spade's head.

The older teen became even more flustered as he tossed the shirt onto the floor at his feet.

"Would you two stop flirting already?" Prudence Bennett laughed from atop a nearby crate, her feet swinging back and forth as she sat, "Gosh Cupid didn't know you could turn so red!"

Spade's reaction was to hold a fist in her direction before brushing his free hand down his arm and off his fist. A red glow emanated from his hands as an arrow the width of his arm flew over and embedded itself just below Pruce's feet. She only laughed in return as she brushed her red bangs to the side. Her green eyes sparkled a bit mischievously as Spade grumbled something in remark to his 'nickname'.

"Are they always like this?" Amelia Grace Pertole asked her lips quirked seemingly forever in the shape of a smirk as she eyed the two boys in question with dark green eyes.

Her tanned fingers drummed out a rhythm against the wall she had been leaning against, having been completely overlooked by both guys. Spade gave her a look, his eyes suddenly void of emotion as he examined her closely. He had been put on edge since Tamwar had brought her to their little headquarters. He diverted his eyes to the chipped paint on his nails and pretended to focus on taking the excess paint off of them. Black chips falling onto his red wife-beater and slipping farther onto his khaki pants.

"Actually, this is pretty normal of late. Cupid's been touchy about everything since his hair was accidently dyed red, he was originally was your garden variety blonde," Pruce grinned playfully with a wink towards Spade. "Besides that, the two are almost always flirting."

Spade just waved her off before aiming his fist at the ceiling and shooting off a shorter arrow which became embedded in the concrete.

"Remind me again why I took you two mutts in?" Spade remarked, his tone unwavering.

Tam laid his hands on the top of the headrest and grinned down at Spade.

"Quit being bi-polar in front of the new kid," Tamwar chuckled, dismissing Spade's remark.

"She's your stray, Tambo." Spade shot back, moving his hand aimlessly as he continued to shoot arrows around the room, leaving an eerie red glow.

Spade slipped out of the chair and continued to shoot arrows down the halls, illuminating his path as he went.

"Arrogant and bi-polar." Amelia muttered under her breath with a roll of her eyes.

Having heard Amelia, Pruce just shrugged her shoulder, bunching up the material of her sleeveless yellow hoodie before smoothing it out absently.

"Lot of stuff has been going down of late, usually he's just arrogant." Tamwar said with a slight grin, hands running through his wiry brown hair.

Pruce nodded towards Tamwar, before reaching out with a glowing pink hand and absorbing the red arrows still embedded in the walls and ceiling. As the glow receded from her hand, she flexed her hand into a fist a couple of times before relaxing against the crate once more.

"So," Tamwar elongated the word, "awkward turtle?"

As he made the figure with his fur covered hands, Pruce rolled her eyes and cracked a slight grin before hopping off of the crate.

"How about no?" She shot back, gripping Amelia by the shoulder, "I'll leave the turtle to his business while I get you adjusted before we figure out what group you belong to, m'kay?"

Amelia just gave a slight shrug, stifled by the grip still on her shoulder and moved to follow Pruce out of the room.

Left to his own devices, Tawmwar once again stretched out before making his way towards the seat Spade had just been occupying.

"Don't even think of shedding on my chair!" Spade shouted from down the hall, resulting in Tamwar jumping a good ten feet into the air with his claws elongated.

* * *

Valance Parker Brooks stared with intense honey brown eyes, or rather, would appear to, if not for the electric blue contacts that covered his eyes. He stood in the standard wide-stance and crossed arm posture that a typical bouncer would in the midst of their job. His stature was intimidating given his advantage over height and his tanned skin and dark hair made him harder to spot in the dimly lit street. He held an assortment of concealed weapons, each within reach and each one practiced with as if they were second nature. While he had opted for a grey t-shirt, his clothes made him no easier to spot without the use of careful observation.

He had been warned to watch out for mutants, that they could potentially be a threat and kill without a second thought. The notion had made Valance laugh, internally of course. He could take care of himself and people always tended to exaggerate when it came to mutants. People were people to him; there wasn't must distinction between anyone.

If anything, Valance was waiting for some action to take place. He'd just been standing in the dark street for a number of hours now and the adrenaline that had first accompanied him had now died down and didn't even leave a slight buzz.

His eyes traveled to that of the neon light that was perched against the corner of the club. He didn't bother reading it, barely even focused on the light really. If boredom could kill, he'd certainly be dead by now.

From what seemed like nowhere, a figure trudged along the sidewalk. The guy, by Valance's assessment, was almost entirely dressed in black excluding the grey ball cap that poked out from under his hood. Valence's eyes narrowed, more so out of concentration rather than suspicious as the guy approached the entrance to the club.

Mason Bridges kept his eyes downcast, he was in a rather poor mood after a previous gig had been canceled on him and he made his way to the first club he had spotted. His only intent was to have a quick drink to cool his temper and then take his leave.

He glanced up at the bouncer, making brief eye contact before he was suddenly shoved into a wall. The breath was knocked out of his lungs and his cap fell off revealing his spiky black hair. He shoved back against the man, some guy who appeared to be the stereotypical biker as far as Bridge was concerned. His frown seemed to deepen framed by his dark-haired goatee.

"Watch where you're going." The man seemed to growl out as he narrowed his eyes at Bridge.

Before Bridge could even respond, the guy sent an elbow towards Bridge's head. Valance took a step forward only to watch in what seemed like slow motion as Bridge blocked with one arm and brought a chain from him pocket. A smirk seemed to play on Bridge's lips as the chain seemed to glimmer around his hand. Bridge sent an uppercut to the biker's chin, but instead of a chain wrapped loosely around Bridge's fist was a brass knuckle which intensified the punch and knocked the man onto his back.

Valance blinked a moment, a single word coming to mind, _mutant. _Shaking his head, he took a stance between the pair, taking not that Bridge was of equal height. Bridge reacted to the advance and sent another punch this time towards Valance, but in a single fluid motion, Valance had Bridge disarmed and lying on his back.

"Enough," Valance spoke evenly.

Bridge pulled himself into a sitting position and looked up at Valance and gave the brunette a playful shrug.

"Dirty mutant!" The guy on the ground barked out, giving Bridge a heated glare.

Bridge's eyes narrowed back at him as he rose off of the ground and shook the dirt off his clothes. The brass knuckle glimmered back into a chain and Bridge slipped it back into his pocket.

"Both of you should head on home," Valance ordered more than suggested.

"Whatever," Bridge shrugged again, maintaining his heated glare.

Without another word, Bridge made his way down the curb, suddenly losing the desire for a drink. His hand absently reached up to brush the x-shaped scar on his temple as he kept a slow, measured pace.

Valance turned back to the other man, flashing a blade when the guy tried to get smart and make his way into the club. The guy held up his hands defensively, noticeably ticked as he made his was in the opposite direction of Bridge.

A sigh escaped from Valance's lips and he relaxed a moment against the wall. He visibly tensed in the next moment as something metallic clanged from the alley way that Bridge had disappeared into a moment before. Valance's eyes narrowed as he made his way over to the alley, believing that the man had tried to get into more mischief.

Valance was met with a different image as his eyes finally looked down the alley.

"Shit."

* * *

A militaristic looking man peered with hard brown eyes at the flickering screen in front of him. While the overall image was on a black and white scale, his eyes were locked on the single red figure standing in a startled position on the screen. He scanned the background for anything before his tanned index finger stretched and pressed one of the many square keys in front of him. The button blinked a moment in green before settling on red. A recorded voice came on in the background, but the man tuned it out as he sat back in his chair. Legs crossed, his eyes became focused solely on the red figure.

* * *

AN:

Heh, hope you guys don't hate me for the cliffy. I usually hate reading them, but they keep showing up in my writing for whatever reason. Might as well run with them, I suppose. I would also like to point out that there will be two Masons, a guy and girl, whom will be differentiated by nicknames as a heads up. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the story and please leave a review. I would especially like to hear from those that I have used their characters, thus far, so that I can make sure that each character is portrayed correctly.


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